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The Buried Age
| miniseries = | date = 2355–2363 | author = Christopher L. Bennett | published = | format = paperback | pages = 400 | publisher = Pocket Books | ISBN = ISBN 1416537392 }} The Buried Age is a Star Trek: The Next Generation novel by Christopher L. Bennett, taking place in The Lost Era time period. Description :Jean-Luc Picard. His name has gone down in legend as the captain of the and two starships '' . But the nine years of his life leading up to the inaugural mission of the to Farpoint Station have remained a mystery—until now, as Picard's lost era is finally unearthed.'' :Following the loss of the ''Stargazer and the brutal court-martial that resulted, Picard no longer sees a future for himself in Starfleet. Turning to his other love, archaeology, he embarks on a quest to rediscover a buried age of ancient galactic history… and awakens a living survivor of that era: a striking, mysterious woman frozen in time since before the rise of Earth's dinosaurs. But this powerful immortal has a secret of cataclysmic proportions, and her plans will take Picard—aided along the way by a brilliant but naïve android, an insightful Betazoid, and an enigmatic El-Aurian—to the heights of passion, the depths of betrayal, and the farthest reaches of explored space.'' Summary This novel covers the 9 years between Jean-Luc Picard's command of the and his command of the , beginning with a detailed account of the loss of the Stargazer, and the ensuing court martial. The Quality of Mercy :Part I - The Quality of Mercy (2355) (Chapters 1 - 4). May 21–June 11, 2355 (stardates 32217–32442) DaiMon Flax of the Ferengi scout Seventy-Fifth Rule prepares for a lucrative mining mission in the Maxia Zeta system. When his ship’s sensors detect an incoming Federation starship, he launches an unprovoked surprise attack to protect both his future profits and the air of secrecy the Ferengi have fostered prior to Federation first contact. The Stargazer is badly damaged and twenty-four crewmembers, including weapons chief Vigo, are killed, but Picard manages to destroy the unknown attacker by inventing the Picard maneuver. With most of the Stargazer in flames and contaminated, the crew evacuate in shuttles and escape pods, trusting that the starship will be destroyed when its orbit decays. The survivors set out for Federation space at low warp, a journey that takes nearly thirteen weeks. Fifteen days after the attack, DaiMon Bok arrives at Maxia Zeta and discovers his son’s death. He also finds that the Stargazer has miraculously survived its collision with the system’s Jovian world and he salvages the derelict with plans for revenge. May 22–August 25, 2355 (stardates 32388–32648) Picard celebrates his fiftieth birthday in the escape pod caravan, suffering from grief and guilt over the loss of his ship and some of his crew. The survivors are rescued and delivered to Starbase 32, where the captain is subjected to a court martial. His former flame, Philipa Louvois, is assigned to the prosecution, but she is more obsessed with winning the trial then in finding the truth and viciously attacks Picard. She is placed on probation, but resigns in disgust. Between Louvois’ misconduct and Picard’s defense counsel, T’Lara, the captain is cleared of all charges, though he still suffers from intense self-doubt and an uncertain future. Rounded With a Sleep :Part II - Rounded With a Sleep (2358-2359) (Chapters 5 - 12). October 24–December 27, 2358 (stardates 35813–35988) Picard pursues his doctorate degree in archaeology at the University of Alpha Centauri. He is visited by his old friend, Guinan, who insists that he will return to starship duty, and who tempts him with legends of a lost ancient civilization. The ruins of this society would have the potential to explain a fabled galactic mass extinction (the great Cataclysm) between 250–100 million years ago, the same era of the Permian-Triassic extinction on Earth. He conducts further research on the legends and recovered ancient databases, narrowing down probable locations. He convinces his advisor Dr. Miliani Langford to mount an expedition to explore the rumors of an unknown artifact existing out of time, though the year-long voyage would be complicated by their burgeoning relationship and the presence of the children of several other team members. The expedition is launched on January 10, 2359. April 7–November 5, 2359 (stardate 36283–36845) Picard grudgingly requests Starfleet’s navigational assistance, and the Cleopatra’s Needle warps to the closest probable site, known as Tanebor by its Mabrae colonists. The territorial Mabrae agree to let the scientists excavate the ruins buried on their world, though they demand complete oversight, exclusive access to the B’nurlac ruins (a still-ancient, though more recent civilization that rose and fell 100 million years ago), and total access to the Federation’s findings of the Cataclysm-era (250 million years ago) civilization. Over several months, the team unearths B’nurlac ruins that utilized and repurposed the older ruins, and which lead to the discovery of other, undisturbed Extinction-era sites, including a ship hangar. The vessels stored there provide a starmap to more sites on other worlds. The Mabrae liaison, Coray, is extremely manipulative in maintaining her people’s sovereign claims, and insists on accompanying the Needle to its next excavation site, an icy planetoid dubbed Proserpina. On Proserpina, the team fined a buried science outpost containing a “null sphere,” a diffuse shape that withstands all sensor scans, thus appearing as a void on the readout. Closer examination reveals that the sphere has zero entropy—time has been frozen inside of it for 250 million years. Coray forgoes caution in her own exploration and is injured; her symbiotic plants all wither and die. The limited science team meets with no success in marrying their theoretical research with a practical application to get inside the sphere, and Picard is forced to call Starfleet for assistance in the form of the USS Mary Kingsley and its more well-rounded science team. Lt. Kathryn Janeway devises a plan using the transporter to quantum entangle the inside of the sphere with the surrounding environment in order to bring down the stasis field, though things go horribly wrong. The field destabilizes and nearly all of the matter within the sphere violently explodes, permeating everything and everyone within the star system. The transporter is able to retrieve only a handful of beings from within the field, though only one of those survives. The survivor, who Picard names Ariel, has remarkable mental abilities and advanced nanotechnology that quickly restores her health if not any of her memories. She is a logopath, a perfect communicator; her empathic abilities allow her to sense speech and meaning, enabling her to almost instantly learn any language and to completely comprehend any form of communication. She also adapts very quickly to new environments, and has personally undergone evolution during her 1-million-year lifetime. Though Picard and Janeway lament the loss of all other lives from within the field, Ariel forgives them and thanks them for rescuing her. Study of the ice base’s records reveal that she is a Manraloth and suggest the location of other similar fields, from which more of Ariel’s people could be rescued. Picard agrees to join Ariel in this quest, abandoning his doctorate and his potential relationship with Langford in favor of one with Ariel. Coray is forced to return home without her prize of a living piece of history, though Ariel does offer her some advanced research that could restore Coray’s lost plants and revolutionize the Mabrae’s joint medical/botanical industry. Unfortunately, Coray rashly applies the untested treatment and dies. Brave New World :Part III - Brave New World (2360) (Chapters 13 - 19). January 3–May 2, 2360 (stardates 37007–37335) The expedition team returns to Alpha Centauri, where exposure to Federation civilization (similar to her own society) causes Ariel to remember much of her past. She has a breakdown and retreats into the wilderness alone for days. She recalls that the Manraloth were peacebrokers who established the first galactic civilization that endured for millennia. They harnessed highly advanced technologies and encoded the entirety of their galactic knowledge within the event horizon of black holes. She also remembers that a Manraloth experiment gone horribly wrong was responsible for the Cataclysm, and she blames Picard for killing her friends and family (whom she now remembers) within her stasis field, though she keeps both of these revelations to herself. Ariel eventually returns to Picard, hiding her loathing for the human, and meets with the Organians, who witnessed the Cataclysm and who direct her to another stasis field between Sheliak and Breen space. Picard again grudgingly asks Starfleet for assistance, but Admiral Gregory Quinn will only provide them with a powerful starship if Picard returns to active duty. Captain Picard is given the Miranda-class USS Portia and selects a crew of specialists which includes Lt. Data. The android’s former commanding officers hadn’t known what to do with him, assigning him to solitary menial database management, and Data is only now learning to assert his own wishes against his superiors’ orders. His professional isolation also extended into his personal life, though Ariel engages Data, beginning to make him a more socially savvy being. Picard also befriends the android, sharing his plans for a permanent commitment to Ariel. The Portia finds the other stasis field on a planet they dub Adonis II, and Ariel goes into a technology-assisted trance to commune with her temporally-slowed contemporaries. She ends her relationship with Picard, anticipating that her quest and Picard’s duties will soon separate them anyway, and Picard accepts it surprisingly well. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew observe the local semi-sentient animal life they name “platycauds.” The animals rely on the stasis field for survival, using its friction to heat rocks to survive Adonis II’s cold climate. On his own initiative, Data also conducts simulations on the longevity and resilience of the Galaxy-class starship, though his results are invariably disastrous within a few years. He finds discrepancies between his findings and those of the Galaxy engineering teams, and suspects Ariel of tampering with his neural network. Picard refuses to listen to Data’s suspicions until the android confronts the captain about his strange acceptance of the end of his relationship, then he comes to believe that Ariel used her power of persuasion against him and without his knowledge. Picard orders security chief Kilif to arrest Ariel, but she kills him and escapes. She drops the stasis field herself, sacrificing the platycauds and most of the sentient allied species within the bubble in order to rescue her fellow Manraloth and an advanced starship. When confronted by Picard and Data, she reveals the truth of her past and her plans for the future— As the galaxy slowly evolved, there were few sentient species at any given time. Whole civilizations rose and fell without meeting other life, and what encounters there were invariably resulted in the total destruction of one or both parties, who were unaccustomed to dealing with other intelligences. Eventually, more planets became habitable and more sentient species evolved. 600 million years ago, the Manraloth created the first galactic community, in which peace reigned and incredible advancements were made. Using their extreme longevity and innate negotiating skills, they became the self-appointed protectors of all other species, defending our realm from extragalactic threats. Over the eons, some of the Manraloth’s allies (even some Manraloth themselves) tired of corporeal existence and evolved to higher planes, though the majority of the Manraloth valued physical existence too much to follow. Still, the extremely social Manraloth deeply missed their absent friends and undertook a galaxy-wide effort to develop a transdimensional communications system to connect all of existence in a great new era of discovery and togetherness. Activation of the device on every inhabited world simultaneously exposed all corporeal life in our galaxy to the intense energy of higher planes of existence, and each mind that was touched amplified that energy. Half of the galaxy’s intelligent life was forcibly transcended to a noncorporeal state, while those beings too primitive to make the transition simply burned out. In a matter of moments, quadrillions of lives were ended and all intelligent life was gone from our galaxy. The surface of every inhabited world was turned to ash due to the heat and radiation from the forced transcendence. Anything left behind was subjected to the eventual failure of the great civilizations’ neglected technologies, eradicating itself. The noncorporeal realms were instantly flooded with billions of refugees, many of those half-insane. Chaos reigned and spilled back into our dimension, and self-styled gods ran rampant until they were eventually contained. ''A mere handful of Manraloth and their allies, working in shielded and isolated research outposts, narrowly survived by repurposing their deflectors to create the zero-entropy fields. Their hope was that any other survivors, or any new life to eventually evolve, would rescue them, as the crews of the ''Cleopatra’s Needle and Mary Kingsley ultimately tried to do with insufficiently advanced technology. Ariel (whose real name is Scholar Giriaenn Lilaeannin eb Vairan Gela-syr, Sisterdweller of the Worldring Vairashu V in the Ranaeth Cluster) fears that the Federation is the precursor to the next great galactic civilization, and that they will repeat the same mistakes if left to evolve unchecked. Giriaenn plans to guide the Federation “children” with the experience and wisdom of her surviving people and the knowledge of their black hole archives. She tries to introduce an innocuous modular virus into Federation computers, deeply regretting her terrible though “necessary” actions. The virus would independently assemble itself, eventually sabotaging the entire Galaxy-class starship line—the ultimate symbol of Federation optimism and expansion—though this plan is thwarted by Data. '' Picard and Data escape to the ''Portia, but are pursued by the Manraloth scoutship, as the Manraloth need Data’s advanced processing abilities (and his own longevity) to help them calculate a quarter-billion years of galactic drift in their search for other stasis fields and black hole archives. The Portia eludes the Manraloth, as well as nearly Breen and Sheliak patrols, then Picard makes himself a decoy long enough for an automated probe to warn Starfleet Command of the Manraloth threat. Abhorring violence and seeing no benefit in retribution, the Manraloth release the Portia and continue their quest alone. The starship returns to Federation space after destroying the ancient base and trying to ensure the platycauds survival. Data is promoted for his service in saving the Galaxy-class and in exposing the Manraloth, and accepts a posting on the Trieste. Picard is also commended, though his guilt over failing to see the truth about “Ariel” makes him further cut himself off emotionally. Abysum of Time :Part IV - Abysum of Time (2363) (Chapters 20 - 28). June 4–October 25, 2363 (stardates 40423–40805) Picard spends three years with Starfleet Tactical’s Long-Range Threat Assessment and Response Division, seeking leads to the Manraloth, though also dealing with other threats. His many strategic and diplomatic successes earn him much respect throughout Starfleet, though he remains singularly focuses on defeating Giriaenn and her people himself. He drives himself, his team, and all support personnel hard; these include Geordi La Forge, who impresses Picard enough to recommend the young ensign for a promotion to pilot the USS Hood as a favor to USS Victory captain Marien Zimbata. Admiral Hansen, concerned over Picard’s mental health, assigns Lt. Deanna Troi to secretly observe the captain, though she refuses to sacrifice her professional ethics, and an impressed Picard takes her on as a contact specialist. Together, the pair arbitrates a dispute on Epsilon Canaris III, though Troi recognizes Picard’s reluctance to take credit for his successes and instead focuses on his failures. Becoming somewhat of a confidante, she confronts his inability to accept failure because of his track record of success. The Manraloth find two more stasis fields in far-flung regions of the galaxy, though they lose one to the Borg and fail to successfully collapse the other; the inhabitants of the second field survive as energy patterns downloaded into a computer core, though the free Manraloth still lack the resources and the space to heal and restore them to physicality. Giriaenn tracks the black hole archive to a location within the Carnelian Regnancy. They prepare to retrieve the archive and also to consciously alter their bodies for reproduction. Meanwhile, Guinan observes that events are approaching the point at which her past and future meet (Picard’s trip to 1893 San Francisco), but her Nexus connection allows her to see that key people are diverging from their “correct” path. She takes a more active role in correcting events due to Picard’s importance in her own life and her involvement in releasing the dangerous Manraloth. She seeks out and infiltrates the Manraloth within Carnelian space, but eventually reveals her true identity and her intentions to mediate a peace between the Federation and the Manraloth. Guinan meets Picard on Kartikeya as an emissary for peace with the Manraloth, though the captain fears that she has been coerced and no longer trusts her with stakes this high. She is incarcerated and Picard assembles a fleet (the starships Cybele, Thelian, Tecumseh, Malinche, Victory, Pottkamer, and Nautilus) for a confrontation with Giriaenn and her new Carnelian allies. As the two fleets meet, the Carnelians try to annex Kirisha IV, a Caitian colony on their border. Starfleet forces fight their way through the Carnelians to defend the colony. The Manraloth try to stop the fighting, though they realize this is futile when their disabling of the Thelian leads to its destruction, and they withdraw to the black hole and work to clear the intense ion storm surrounding it. Giriaenn tries to link all of the minds present with each other and with the archive, in the hopes that a shared empathy will end the fighting, but this plan (again) goes horribly wrong. All Starfleet, Carnelian, and Manraloth individuals suffer intense mental anguish, though Guinan is able to partially resist thanks to her Nexus echo. She quickly devises a neural suppressant and treats the crews of the Cybele, then the Manraloth scout. However, Giriaenn is unable to halt the destructive mental wave, which continues to expand, powered by the black hole. The Manraloth realize that their archive is buried beneath a quarter-billion years of raw, unprocessed input also imprinted on the black hole’s event horizon, and that they must use their ship to collapse the singularity. Picard convinces Giriaenn to proceed by repeating Troi’s advice about accepting failure and by displaying that she can’t succeed in a galaxy so drastically different with no supporting (Manraloth) infrastructure. The Manraloth decide to ascend to a higher level, where they will reunite with their people and can explore a whole new realm. Timelessness :Interlude ("Timelessness"). In another realm, Giriaenn, who has assumed the name Ariel for her new existence, again encounters a trickster being who takes an interest in her dealings with humanity. He decides to test the species, and Picard in particular, himself. Epilogue :Epilogue (January 2364). November 17, 2363–February 15, 2364 (stardates 40878–41124) Considering Giriaenn’s future inspires Picard to seek out the same, as commander of a Galaxy-class starship, a sort of university town in space that combines the captain’s love of academia and his passion for what Starfleet represents. He staffs his new command, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, with officers who have impressed him over the last few years—Data, Troi, La Forge, and one Lt. Natasha Yar, who he witnessed making a heroic rescue at great personal peril on Kirisha. Together, the crew set a course for the unexplored Cygnus Reach. Despite this new start, however, Giriaenn’s betrayal hinders Picard in developing new close personal relationships. This is especially true when he learns that Beverly Crusher, the widow of his best friend, has been assigned as his chief medical officer. Data decides to initially present a more human “front” while his crewmates get to know him. Worf is appointed as the bridge watch officer and encouraged to learn all of the intricacies of starship operations, rather than pursuing a narrower approach in security. References Characters Main characters :Giriaenn • Guinan • Jean-Luc Picard USS Stargazer crew :Idun Asmund • Gilaad Ben Zoma • Tricia Cadwallader • Carter Greyhorse • Schuster • Phigus Simenon • Vigo Jack Crusher • "Pug" Joseph • Ki'hiut • Lisuni • Strowman • Suranyi • T'Moni • Elizabeth Wu • Yojaleya Ferengi :Bok • Flax • Gorp • Skwart Mench • Zek Starbase 32 Court-martial :Grev • Naomi Jerusalmi • Phillipa Louvois • Lun Minsal • Thomas Salisbury • Sartak • T'Lara Gof • R'Miia • Sudarmono ''Cleopatra's Needle'' crew'' :Allis • Bazyli Janasz • Jameela Janasz • Stefcia Janasz • Miliani Langford • Rosa Payne • Ruyao • Sorma • Xian Chuanli • Xian Yanmei USS Mary Kingsley crew :Kathryn Janeway • Onna Karapleedeez • Dan Legato • Lenama • Sabar • Subramaniam • Mabrae :Bilan • Coray • Nibro USS Portia crew :Ryallen Colla • Kilif • Johanna Kolbe • Shawn Rider • Quetzalxochitl "Sally" Vejar USS Enterprise-D crew :Data • Guinan • Rene Torres • Deanna Troi • Worf • Tasha Yar Michael Argyle • Beverly Crusher • Heather MacDougal • Wesley Crusher Other characters :Kunrud • Q • ch'Regda • Donald Varley Marta Batanides • • Zefram Cochrane • Deb'ni • Robert DeSoto • Durand • Richard Galen • Queen Gertrude • David Gold • J.P. Hanson • Edward Janeway • Kimiko Jones • Walker Keel • Angus McCarthy • Merthiel • Mozart • Ngalior • Marie Picard • • Prospero • Gregory Quinn • Riva • George Sanders • Sarek • William Shakespeare • Shireilil • Juanita Valderrama • Elias Vaughn • Miranda Vigo • Cortin Zweller Locations :Adonis system • Adonis II • Albireo • Aldea • Algolia • Alpha Centauri III • Alpha Centauri VII • Alpha Centauri A • Alpha Centauri B • Bajor • Berengaria • Beta Quadrant • Betazed sector • Camus II • • Darwin Research Station • Earth • El-Auria • Enceladus • England • Epsilon Canaris III • Eris Alpha • Europa • Ferenginar • Galos Sigma • Iconia • Kandoge • Kirisha IV • Kitalpha • Kurl • Lambda Scorpii • Ligillium • Mars • Maxia • Maxia Zeta • Maxia Zeta III • Maxia Zeta IV • Maxia Zeta V • • Neptune • New Samarkand • Organia • Pacifica • Paris • Perseus Arm • Polynesia • Proserpina • Proxima Centauri • Questar M17 • Sargonian Diaspora • Scorpius Reach • Starbase 20 • Starbase 32 • Starbase 324 • Starbase G-6 • Tagus III • Talos IV • Tanebor • Taredin • Tau Ceti Prime • Tellar • Timur's Peak • Trans-Scorpian region • Trelka • Upper Scorpius OB association • Utopia Planitia • Vanlac V • Vemlar IV Carl Blegen Hall • Fer-Gruacch Library • Ranaeth Cluster • Tomb of Zaterl • Vairashu V Starships and vehicles : • • Cleopatra's Needle • ( ) • ( ) • escape pod • • • • ( ) • ( ) • • • ( frigate) • ( ) • Selbos • Seventy-Fifth Rule ( ) • shuttlecraft • ( ) • • • • Races and cultures :Acamarian • Andorian • Argelian • Atrean • B'nurlac • Bajoran • Betazoid • Bolian • Borg • Breen • Brunyg • Caitian • Caldonian • Cardassian • Centaurian • Clan Ru • El-Aurian • Fabrini • Ferengi • Gnalish • Gorn • Gororm • Grazerite • Human (Nahuatl) • Kalandan • Klingon • Kobheerian • Kreetassan • Ky'rha • Ligillian • Lorini • Mabrae • Manraloth • Menthar • Metron • Molherian Firesoul • Mro • Mulzirak • Napean • Organian • Pandrilite • Peliar • platycaud • Polyphemian • Promellian • Sargonian • Shedai • Sheliak • Taguan • Talarian • Tellarite • Thasian • Tholian • Toraak • Tzenkethi • Vanlaca • Vormoresh • Vulcan Alraki • Augment • Dlascru • Ma-aira Thenn • Omegan • Platonian • Sahndaran • Skagaran States and organizations :Breen Confederacy • Department of Temporal Investigations • Federation Diplomatic Corps • Ferengi Alliance • Gatherers • Iconian Empire • Regnancy of the Carnelian Throne • Sheliak Corporate • Starfleet • Starfleet Academy • Starfleet Corps of Engineers • Starfleet Headquarters • Starfleet Medical • Tanebor Orbital Guard • United Federation of Planets • University of Alpha Centauri • Vormoresh Imperium Science and technology :alien • annular confinement beam • atmosphere • binary star • bioengineering • black hole archive • brown dwarf • carbon dioxide • chemical • class-8 probe • combadge • communicator • computer • consciousness-transfer device • corporeal • cryovolcano • dilithium • distress beacon • DNA • duranium • dynoscanner • EVA suit • event horizon • • fire-suppression field • forcefield • fusion generator • G4 star • G7 star • gamma radiation • gas • gas giant • genetic engineering • geology • gravimetric turbulence • gravity well • Heisenberg compensator • hour • hyperonic radiation • humanoid • hyponeutronium • ice • incorporeal • hydrogen • ice giant • impact crater • impulse engine • K6 star • kelbonite • Kelvin • logopath • magnetic field • matter • methane • mineral • mining • mining phaser • nanotechnology • navigational deflector • neutron • neutronium • nitrogen • nucleonic radiation • oxygen • parsec • pattern enhancer • phaser • photon torpedo • plutonium • potassium-40 • probe • quantum degradation • quantum field • quantum singularity • red dwarf • red giant • remote probe • sensor • sensor drone • space • starship • stasis field • stellar wind • subspace • supernova • terraform • tetryon • thermal vent • thruster • time • topaline • transponder • transporter • tricorder • tritanium • tsunami • uranium-235 • verterium • viewscreen • x-ray flare • warp core • warp engine • warp factor • warp nacelle Ranks and titles :admiral • captain • commander • counselor • DaiMon • doctor • engineer • enlisted • ensign • Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance • GuiMon in Chief • JAG officer • lieutenant • navigator • Number one • officer • quantum physicist • Questor • science officer • scientist • second-in-command • specialist • tactical officer • temporal mechanicist Other references :2200 • 2339 • 2341 • 2345 • 2348 • 2354 • 2355 • 2358 • 2359 • A7 computer rating • archaeology • asteroid • "Beyond Antares" • bodyplant • bolus • bread • breakfast • bridge • bridge log • captain's log • city • Class M • day • dinosaur • • engineering • extinction • fable • Ferengi Rules of Acquisition • first contact • Galen border conflict • gigayear • Grankite Order of Tactics • Great Dying • Great River • Hamlet • Heritage Banks of Vormoreshinak • introdus • Jacinnan racing cat • Jovian • khrught • latinum • log entry • megayear • Menthar-Promellian War • metamaterial • month • moon • • mountain • Permian-Triassic Extinction Event • Picard Maneuver • planet • Prime Directive • proximity alert • Scalos water • sensor log • shield • shipyard • shuttlebay • sickbay • stardate • Starfleet General Orders and Regulations • Starfleet uniform • Swiss cheese • treasure chest of Narj • Treaty of Armens • underworld • • war • water • week • wine • winter • xenoanthropology • year Chronology Log entries * [[captain's log, USS Stargazer|captain's log, USS Stargazer]] Appendices Related media Background * When author Christopher L. Bennett posted the cover on The Trek BBS, he stated that the cover art had been an inspiration: ** "The scene on the cover is in the novel. As it happened, I wrote it just a couple of days before I was shown the preliminary artwork, and what I described scenery-wise was very different from this, and much more bland. But I was able to rework things to fit the image, and it greatly enhanced the detail and mood of this pivotal scene." * An excerpt from this novel was published in Issue 133 of Star Trek Magazine. Notes * Philipa Louvois’s confrontational personality is the result of her being raised on Tellar. She was friends with Jack Crusher at the Academy, and the romance she shared with Picard helped the captain get past Jack’s death. * In 2339, the Stargazer came under attack from an 11 million year old automated planetary defense system. The defense grid was set up when the system’s original inhabitants were forced to abandon their homes due to massive solar flares, but it failed to recognize the natives’ inhabitants when they returned generations later, and prevented them from recolonizing. In 2341, the Stargazer nearly collided with a mini-black hole by executing a warp jump and was accidentally thrown literally into the middle of next week. It was caught within a time-dilation anomaly until Jack Crusher devised a means to put the ship back in normal space-time. In 2345, the Stargazer came under attack from high-pressure water-ammonia beings (dubbed Polyphemians) who lived in an ice-giant world. They demanded that the starship leave their territory, as all previous encounters with M-class life had been mutually harmful. In 2348, during a patrol of the Cardassian border, a clan of Acamarian Gatherers conducted an unsuccessful raid on the Stargazer. Picard was able to lure the Gatherers close to a dwarf star that disabled their vessel. * The Mabrae evolved on a world at the far edge of its star’s habitable zone. Adapting to their cold environment, the plant and sentient humanoid species naturally evolved a symbiosis. Both parties benefitted from shared warmth and the plants burrowed microscopic roots into the animal body to share in its nutrients. As the Mabrae advanced technologically, they developed bioengineering to perfect the symbiosis. Their culture also practiced an extremely “green” lifestyle in harmony with nature. * The B’nurlac existed approximately 100,000 years ago. They had low, ankylosaurian bodies with bony dorsal carapaces and clubbed tails. They built at least some of their civilization overtop of ancient Manraloth ruins, such as those found on a planet that was known eons later as Tanebor. It is believed that the B’nurlac were destroyed when their bioengineered slave races rose up to eradicate them. * The Regnancy of the Carnelian Throne was a multispecies interstellar empire in the rimward part of the Alpha Quadrant in the 24th century. One of the species first formed the empire by conquering its neighbors. However, the king eventually saw the external fighting come to his own homeland, culminating in a massive battle within his very throne room. Though the king defeated the rebels, his throne room was covered in carnage and the throne was permanently stained carnelian from all the blood. Following his victory, the king rededicated himself to justice, peace, and brotherhood. Unfortunately, future successors became corrupted by their own power and sought to forcefully subject others, making them slaves to the Regnancy. Over time, though, the slaves were given greater and greater responsibilities, ultimately coming to run the government themselves. One wise bureaucrat remembered the story of the carnelian throne and declared that all subjects were enslaved to this symbol of peace. The Regnancy’s territory eventually bordered that of the United Federation of Planets, though relations remained tense due to cultural differences and misunderstandings. The Federation considered the Regnancy to be an expansionist imperialist power that sought the acquisition of slave races, with those who refused membership labeled as enemies. Meanwhile, the Regnancy believed that those who refused to accept the ideals of “enslavement to the throne” as being evil and promoting injustice. Conflict erupted in 2363 when the Regnancy attempted to forcibly annex the Caitian colony on Kirisha III, though the skirmish ended before all-out war could be declared. A cease-fire was instated and the Carnelians turned their sites inward for the following 15 years. * Among the Manraloth’s accomplishments was the creation and refinement of a series of subspace conduits to facilitate travel throughout the Milky Way galaxy and between it and the Greater and Lesser Magellenic Clouds. When left to entropy, most of these decayed beyond use, though a handful remained functional in the Delta Quadrant (as seen in Voyager) and two maintained the connection with Neyel space (The Lost Era: The Sundered, Titan: The Red King). Another great work, the black hole archives, permitted the permanent storage of any data that was encoded as energy and imprinted on the event horizon. Though this made the data immune to entropic decay, the archives ceased to be practically accessible when the organized data was buried beneath massive amounts of unfiltered and unsorted energy collected by the black hole over the millennia following the Cataclysm. * Guinan befriended a group of galactic anthropologists (likely the Preservers) who had been studying Earth for centuries. In the latter 19th century, they observed and put a stop to the Skagaran enslavement of the natives, and Guinan stayed behind for a personal survey while her friends traveled elsewhere. Working her way into high society despite the local prejudices over her sex and skin color, she met the temporally displaced android Data (from 2368) in 1893. During this incident, she nearly died but was saved by the similarly displaced Jean-Luc Picard, who risked his future and his life to ensure Guinan’s survival. She eventually returned home, though she found El-Auria decimated by the Borg. En route to Earth aboard a refugee convoy, she was briefly trapped within the nexus, and her forcible extraction from that realm was extremely painful. She suffered from great depression until her life was set back on track by a younger Jean-Luc Picard. Seeing his great potential instilled in Guinan a new hope for the future, and she subtley pushed him to become the great man she knew he was destined to become. Images buriedAge.jpg|Cover image. buried age picard.jpg|Jean-Luc Picard. Connections Timeline | timeframe = Timeframe11 | type = MB | primary = 2355 | date1 = 2355 | prevdate1 = Deny Thy Father | nextdate1 = Home Fires | date2 = 2358 | prevdate2 = Pathways | nextdate2 = Lefler's Logs | date3 = 2358 | prevdate3 = Lefler's Logs | nextdate3 = Mosaic | date4 = 2359 | prevdate4 = Mosaic | nextdate4 = Survivors | date5 = 2360 | prevdate5 = Imzadi}} | nextdate5 = The Buried Age | date6 = 2360 | prevdate6 = The Buried Age | nextdate6 = Catalyst of Sorrows | date7 = 2363 | prevdate7 = Alice, on the Edge of Night | nextdate7 = The Buried Age | date8 = 2363 | prevdate8 = The Buried Age | nextdate8 = The Buried Age | date9 = 2363 | prevdate9 = The Buried Age | nextdate9 = House of Cards | date10 = 2363 | prevdate10 = Dawn of the Eagles | nextdate10 = Alice, on the Edge of Night | date11 = 2363 | prevdate11 = Alice, on the Edge of Night | nextdate11 = Lefler's Logs }} | prevdate1 = Alice, on the Edge of Night | nextdate1 = Meet with Triumph and Disaster | date2 = 2363 | prevdate2 = Meet with Triumph and Disaster | nextdate2 = Lefler's Logs | date3 = 2363 | prevdate3 = Lefler's Logs | nextdate3 = The Buried Age | date4 = 2364 | prevdate4 = The Buried Age | nextdate4 = Encounter at Farpoint }} External links * * Author's Annotations category:tNG novels